Figwort

Scrophularia nodosa
In both eastern and western traditions, figwort (S. nodosa) is a very cleansing herb. In the past, figwort was known as the scrofula plant (hence the botanical name), and used to treat abscesses, purulent wounds, and the “King’s Evil” or scrofula (tuberculosis of the lymph glands in the neck). Culpeper calls the herb throatwort because of its use in treating this disease. The Chinese use xuan shen, the root of a related species, S. ningpoensis, as a prime remedy for “fire poisons,” the kind of purulent conditions associated with the herb in the West.

Blackthorn

Blackthorn is a winter tree. It is black barked with vicious thorns and grows in dense thickets. The wood is used in the cudgel shillelagh and Blasting Stick. Its thorns are used to pierce waxen images.

CINQUEFOIL: (Pontentilla reptans)

Also called Five Fingered Grass, Creeping cinquefoil, and Five Leaved Grass. The rootstock was cooked as a vegetable by the Celts and Native Americans. Applied to sore areas, the fresh plant relieves pain. A root decoction is used in anti-wrinkle creams. A wash reduces skin redness, freckles, and sunburn. The powdered root and leaf are used to stop internal hemorrhaging. The powder also makes an astringent  for mouth sores and treats diarrhea. Taken with honey, it relieves sore throats, coughs, and fever. Take one-quarter to one-half teaspoon at a time, or twenty to forty drops of the tincture. The leaves can be steeped using two teaspoons per cup of water for twenty minutes, or one ounce of the root can be simmered in one and a half cups of water for twenty minutes. The dose is a quarter cup four times a day.